First Day: First Edition

My little big boy started French Immersion Kindergarten this year. We've had almost a month of school now and we're settling into a routine. He goes every day in the afternoon. We had a few tears (okay, lots) along the way, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here.

He started school on Thursday, Sept. 8. They do a staggered entrance, meaning 1/3 of the kids started on Wed, 1/3 on Thurs and 1/3 on Friday. He walked into that classroom with a confident smile on his face and had a great day. On Monday, he was pleased to go again. On Tuesday he was catching on that this was an every day thing, and maybe he didn't like it so much. On Wednesday we had a major problem. He was screaming crying when I tried to leave him, so eventually I went in with him, but that didn't calm him down. Eventually I was able to leave, but he was still not happy about it. The teacher called me at home that night to chat about a plan. It turned out that he was scared of gym class. There are two kindergarten classes in the gym at a time making it very loud, and filled with "kids I don't know." Thursday and Friday of that week were a bit better, but by Monday he was ready to go, without tears.

The reason he was happy to go on Monday is that he had made a friend. Another little boy who was scared of gym spent some time together with Monkey and the teacher and they hit it off. Now he has gone for three whole weeks being mostly happy to go every day. He has also since made a few more friends.

The Little One goes to bed as soon as we get back from dropping Monkey off, so I am able to get a few things done around the house (yay!) before having some one-on-one playing time with The Little One (yay!).

So, now I am officially a school mom. I hope I can do this...We still consider the possibility of homeschooling in the future. The next project to tackle is the politically charged issue of...The Birthday Party.


as usual, this picture will self-destruct...